Galanthus 2006

[Paddy Tobin]

Mark,

Please advise on the snowdrop list which you say is 'going live' today.

Paddy

[Brian Ellis]

I don't take any credit for the description.  The Cottage Garden Society Snowdrop Group leaflet arrived today with a flyer for the book.  It also mentions Orchids of the British Isles - Michael Foley, Sidney Clarke for the same price although you can purchase both volumes and save £10 - which you could, of course, put towards Galanthus Wasp!

 

[mark smyth]

http://www.snowdrop.org.uk/Sales.htm

Those in bold red will make a great collection of snowdrops that are easily recognised

G. elwesii var. elwesii 'Mandarin' a classic G. elwesii with two marks, vigorous and reliable £8.50
G. elwesii var. elwesii 'Rosemary Burnham' fabulous virescent G. elwesii from Vancouver, very few, 1 per customer SOLD OUT - waiting list
G. elwesii var. monostictus an excellent clone with good glaucous leaves, forming big clumps here £5.00
G. elwesii var. monostictus 'Comet' generally regarded as being in the 'top ten', great plant, vigorous and reliable £10.00
G. elwesii var. monostictus 'Deer Slot' finally a very few to spare of this beauty with one split marking on one inner segment, max 1 SOLD OUT - waiting list
G. elwesii var. monostictus Hiemalis Group very early-flowering in Nov/Dec, from the self-sowing colony here so slightly variable £6.50
G. elwesii var. monostictus 'Long 'drop' unusual, elongated flowers that can be very large when well-grown, few, 1 per customer £20.00
G. elwesii var. monostictus 'Mrs McNamara' exceptional early-flowering selection with real elegance, few SOLD OUT - waiting list
G. nivalis 'Blewbury Tart' the upright-facing green double from Blewbury in Oxon. few, 1 per customer £15.00
G. nivalis 'Elfin' tiny but vigorous, green-tipped outer segments, few, 1 per customer £10.00
G. nivalis 'Green Ibis' new name for the lovely dark green nearly virescent clone illustrated on p.21 of the book. max 1 SOLD OUT - waiting list
G. nivalis 'Greenish' lightly virescent, small plant, very charming £10.00
G. nivalis 'Lady Elphinstone' double yellow, always extremely popular. May temporarily revert to green. £7.50
G. nivalis 'Pusey Green Tips' the double snowdrop with green tips on the outer segments, always popular £3.50
G. nivalis 'Tiny Tim' petite selection of G. nivalis, flowering later than most £7.50
G. peshmenii dainty autumn-flowering snowdrop from Turkey, for sheltered place or under glass, few £10.00
G. plicatus from the freely-self-sowing colonies here, not selected so variable in size, markings etc £3.50
G. plicatus 'Colossus' [/color] huge, early snowdrop, rapidly forming big clumps, found at Colesbourne £10.00
G. plicatus 'Diggory' highly-sought after for its large beautifully-shaped flowers, very few to spare, 1 per customer £25.00
G. reginae-olgae 'Cambridge' excellent clone of the Greek autumn-flowering snowdrop, few, 1 per customer SOLD OUT - waiting list
     
HYBRIDS     
     
G. 'Bertram Anderson' prosperous-looking large snowdrop, named for former Gloucestershire gardener £12.50
G. 'Hippolyta' one of the Greatorex doubles, fully double, well marked inside, vigorous grower £7.50
G. 'Galatea' a large elegant snowdrop, flower hangs on long pedicel, early in the season £5.00
G. 'George Elwes' discovered at Colesbourne, one of the finest, deep green inside, vigorous £20.00
G. 'Ginn's Imperati' later than most, strongly scented, highly regarded by cognoscenti £8.50
G. 'James Backhouse' robust plant excellent for naturalising, long flowers sometimes do fun freaky things £2.50
G. 'John Grey' big, beautifully marked flowers early in the season £10.00
G. 'Ketton' a lovely vigorous plant with a neat crisp mark and bright white flowers £12.00
G. 'Lady Beatrix Stanley' vigorous double, soon forming a good clump and lasting in flower for a long time £5.00
G. 'Lord Lieutenant' a magnificent and distinctive snowdrop from Colesbourne £25.00
G. 'Merlin' old cultivar famous for its solid green marking, robust plant £7.50
G. 'Ophelia' a vigorous Greatorex double with abundant but somewhat irregular flowers £7.50
G. 'Robin Hood' elegant old cultivar with pointed segments and scissors-shaped mark £8.50
G. 'S. Arnott' our flagship snowdrop, classic proportions, wonderful scent - a must have £3.00
G. 'St Anne's' elegant flowers with good markings, one of the latest and therefore very useful in the garden £12.00
G. 'Straffan' Irish clone reliably producing two flowers per bulb after mid-season £5.50
G. 'Titania' lovely Greatorex Double, regular flowers, bulks-up well £7.50

[mark smyth]

The first main season snowdrop, elwesii 'Haydn' is out. It's not spectactular but is a very useful addition to extend the snowdrop season back to pre-Christmas

[KentGardener]

thanks Mark - and so it begins again.....

I think Yvonne Hay is going to be the start of the 'season' in my garden this year - and that is at least 2 or 3 weeks away by the looks of things.

Keep the pics coming - helps me to cope with the waiting for mine to show their faces in earnest.

cheers

John

[mark smyth]

John do you attend the Galanthus Gala? I do, for the last 4 years, as do a few of the lurkers on here. My 'Yvonne Hay' didnt flower until the end of January this year.

Slugs have eaten the flowers off my 'Three Ships'. Time to get the pellets out

[mark smyth]

Here is an unusual elwesii var. elwesii flowering now. It's usually elwesii var. monostictus - one mark - flowering first. Speaking to Janet - Judy's Snowdrops - recently she thinks some of these may have G. gracilis in their genes due to slightly curved leaves. This one does have curved leaves. The leaves of Galanthus elwesii are very distinctive with the hood on the leaf tips

[Paddy Tobin]

Mark,

Many thanks for the list, some excellent snowdrops on offer. I realise the most up to date of desirables will be quickly sold out but there are still plenty of interesting plants available for the novice such as myself.

Paddy

[mark smyth]

a beginner doesnt need to buy the most expensive snowdrops to have an interesting and easily recognisable collection. I'll edit the above post to highlight a good collection that doesnt need the book to know what it is

A group of snowdrops are having a conversation when some Galanthophiles came walking past. One snowdrop said to the other "did you hear that! They called us common!"

[Paul T]

Mark,

The galanthophiles wouldn't be saying that if they were in Australia!! 

Only 4 and a bit months until the first of the autumn Galanthus start here!! LOL

[mark smyth]

that I know. To start getting your own good seedlings you should buy in bulk, if possible, elwesii, plicatus, gracilis and nivalis. Grow them almost side by side and you will start getting hybrids.

[Paul T]

Mark,

Yeah, I'm getting there.  Not much chance of buying any Galanthus "in bulk" here in Aus, not unless you want to mortgage the house!!    I'm starting to get a few seedlings about the place (including a handful of seedlings up this year around 'Sibbertoft Manor', which is my favourite Galanthus variety at this stage.  I have to get in there soon and find the little ones around the edge of the main clump.  They were all far enough from the parents that they'll be obvious as the seedlings instead of the parent offsets.  I don't want to mis seedlings in with the named variety of course.  I also have some seed from Thomas which he sent this year.  They were nivalis and elwesii from his plants, so there could be variations within those as well.  I do want to get seed from various collections, just to get the chance of variation, and I still want to find seed from 'Trym' to have the off chance of actually getting something that looks like the parent amongst the seedlings.

So many Galanthus, not enough patience... and so little money!! LOL

[mark smyth]

Paul the right way is to be patient but there are too many Galanthus bullies out there who want to go staright to the top of the pile and have the most of everything that they can get theirs hands on. They bully their way at Galanthus events and hog everything. I'll try and remember to take photos at next years Gala

[Paul T]

Mark,

While I am never likely to get to a Galanthus "event" in this country, I do understand what you mean.  We have a big grower and breeder of Helleborus here in Canberra, and the sales every couple of years are absolutely dreadful.  I doubt I will go again, as there is no point because you can't get anything decent because of the idiots who push and shove and generally make it unpleasant.  NOT fun.

[Johan Mens]

Paul,
if you like, remember me in may - june to look into my seeds of handpollinated Hellebores and into the Galanthus (if the pollinators have done their work well) to see what I can send you. Just grow your own from seeds of some excellent plants. This will be fun.
The first to flower now is a nice veined one. Will try to pollinate if you like.